Can the MLS Ever Compete?

A couple weeks ago, the first kick off of the 2011 season of Major League Soccer took place. It marked at new start to a league that is growing with every year in both size and popularity. Can the MLS ever really compete with the other leagues in the world, or even gain mass popularity in the United States?

To answer the first question, we need to look at other leagues around the world. As we have discussed before, there are obviously elite football leagues, with the Barclay’s Premier League at the top. Not every league can be an elite league; there just aren’t that many elite players. Even thought this is true, the lower leagues are still worth watching. The reason for that, I feel, is that these leagues are local. Many people believe that in order to be a true fan of a team, you have to be from the place where they are located. Even though this is something that I don’t personally believe, the argument does add something. Being a fan of DC United would be much easier than being a Manchester United fan, but I don’t feel a connection to DC. Even though they are the closest MLS team to me, I don’t feel a drive to actually go to a game. My main reason is that I don’t find the MLS extremely entertaining.

Due to this fact, I don’t feel that with its current structure that the MLS can be competitive on the world stage. Even though Real Salt Lake is currently playing in the semi-finals of the CONACAF Champion’s League, they still don’t draw as many elite players as other leagues. One thing that can be said about the MLS though is that their fans are diehard. There has been a large amount of talk recently about how crazy fans of the A-League in Australia are, but I feel they don’t have anything on some MLS clubs. The Seattle Sounders are an excellent example of this and seem to be leading the charge along with LA Galaxy to popularize the sport.

The MLS is growing, but it still can’t touch the Premier League in audience size or quality. One day perhaps it will become a mainstream sport, but at the moment in America it seems that “soccer” is still stuck on the outskirts.